Review: TDW – Fountains

Style: traditional progressive metal, symphonic metal (clean vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Ayreon, Epica, Dream Theater
Review by: Sam
Country: The Netherlands
Release date: 26 November 2021

[EDITOR’S NOTE: This review was originally published in the Missed Albums 2021 issue of The Progressive Subway.]

Once upon a time, we covered a Dutch symphonic prog metal band on this blog called Dreamwalkers Inc. They caught my attention for the fact that they had five fucking vocalists listed as full-time band members (and I guess also the music was pretty good). It was only later that I learned that the project was actually the brainchild of just one fellow Dutchman by the name of Tom de Wit, and that the record in question – First Re-Draft – was not just the first, but the second reimagining of his debut solo album First Draft (should have called it Second Re-Draft SMH my head). By the time I learned of the existence of his solo project TDW, it was already too late to cover his latest outing The Day the Clock Stopped (research is not my strong suit, as you can tell). But luckily for me, there was an upcoming album I could cover in Fountains. I asked the man for a promo, and two months later… here we are. Yeah. I should apologize for how late this review came out. I got a major writing burn-out, and this was an unfortunate casualty of that.

On the bright side though, the lateness of this review gave me the time to listen to his entire discography before I heard this. It was a fun, albeit inconsistent experience. He has a very peculiar style of symphonic arrangements, that for unknown reasons, feel very Dutch to me (maybe it’s the cheese?). I wouldn’t be able to tell you anything about the details, but they were always vibrant and had plenty of variety. The songwriting fluctuated pretty heavily between mind-blowing brilliance and clunky filler parts. And for the life of him, the man could not trim his albums, which were often a solid twenty minutes longer than they needed to be, if not more (looking at you, Scrapbook). The early albums also suffered heavily from basement production and a god-awful drum machine. Overall though, his sense of melody and composition made it mostly a pleasure to sit through. And lucky for me, Fountains has a very manageable length of 56 minutes, so it looks like we have another win on our hands!

For a large part, I indeed see Fountains as a win. There are a couple of excellent cuts on the disc. The first two songs in particular are great, rather straightforward tracks that show you what the record is all about. Nifty synth lines, large symphonic backing, hard riffs, lots of tempo changes, and a full fucking choir backing Tom’s largely soaring vocals. There’s even a couple of harsh vocal parts. It has a general chaotic element that is just strong enough to keep you on your toes, but weak enough not to make it feel like he’s throwing everything at the wall to see what sticks. Another strong cut in this regard is the hilariously whacky upbeat rocker “Graveyard Boogey” in the back half of the album, which shifts between over the top dramatism and circus sounds over a hyperactive drumbeat at the drop of hat. On the more introverted side, there’s mostly laid back passages here and there, but “Anthracite” stands out as a very moving power ballad. It slowly climbs out of ominous electronics with whispered call and response vocals into blast beats and growls to an eventual full choir reprise of the main melody, giving a satisfying payoff to all the build-up. “Hope Song I” is also a great, moving breather track, albeit it functions more like an interlude. Its sequel is the epic closing of the album. It’s easily the most symphonic song on the record and gives it a good finale. I also definitely recommend listening to both “Hope Songs” in a row as a bonus because it’s a treat.

There’s a couple of aspects about Fountains that I found hard to connect to – things which also appeared in Tom’s previous work. Maybe it’s solely my cringing at a fellow native’s accent, but in a lot of the aggressive, powerful moments Tom’s delivery sounds rather stiff (or “wooden” as we Dutchies like to say), and I find myself more appreciating the emotion he’s trying to convey rather than his singing actually makes me feel said emotion. In short, the cheese is too strong. His softer parts were very moving, but it seemed like the more power he put in, the less I connected to it. I was also iffy on some of the slower riffs, which sounded clunky, and some of the lyrics were blunt to a fault and took me out of it (“If I shout louder than you, does that make me right?”). (Damn I really am just roasting my own country here aren’t I? FFS)

On the whole, I liked Fountains. There are certain aspects I didn’t like as much, and some songs were stronger than others, but the overall experience was thoroughly enjoyable. If anything, TDW has an unmistakable character in terms of writing and production, and that’s worth a lot. If you enjoy what you hear in this album, definitely explore the rest of his discography (and Dreamwalkers Inc!) as well. It’s a lot of fun.

Recommended tracks: Inner Energy, Anthracite, Graveyard Boogey
You may also like: Course of Fate, Beyond the Bridge
Final verdict: 6/10

Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Official Website | YouTube | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Metal-Archives page

Label: Layered Reality Productions – Bandcamp | Facebook | Official Website

TDW is:
– Tom de Wit (vocals, keyboards, guitars, percussion, drum programming)
– Rich Gray (bass)
– Fabio Alessandrini (drums)